Pontiff says 'laughs, cries... like everyone else'

(ANSA) - Rome, March 5 - Pope Francis said he should not be
depicted as a super hero, but as an ordinary person, in an
interview published by Italian daily Corriere della Sera
Wednesday ahead of the first anniversary of his election as
pontiff next week.

"Depicting the pope as a sort of superman, a sort of star,
seems offensive to me," said Francis, who was elected to the
lead the world's 1.2 billion Catholics on March 13, 2013.

"The pope is a man who laughs, cries, sleeps well and has
friends like everyone else. A normal person".
Pope Francis defended the Church's record on child-sex-abuse
scandals in the interview.

"The cases of abuse are terrible because they leave very
deep wounds," the Argentine pontiff said.

"Benedict XVI was very courageous and he opened a road.

The Church has come a long way. Perhaps more than anyone.

"The statistics about the phenomenon of violence against
children are shocking, but they also show clearly that the
overwhelming majority of the abuses take place in family or
neighbourhood environments.
"The Catholic Church is perhaps the only public institution
that has moved with transparency and responsibility. No one else
has done more.

"And yet the Church is the only one to be attacked".
Francis also said his predecessor Benedict XVI should
continue to participate in Church life after stepping down one
year ago.
"We decided together that it is better if he sees people
and gets out. He is not a museum piece but an institution," said
in the interview.

The former archbishop of Buenos Aires likened Benedict's
current role to that of grandparents within a family.

"They strengthen families and don't deserve to finish their
lives in a rest home," he said.
When Benedict became the first pope to voluntarily abdicate
in over 700 years, he moved into a home on the Vatican grounds
and swore he would remain "hidden from the world" so as not to
create confusion regarding leadership of the world's 1.2 billion
Catholics.
But in a rare break from that vow, the retired pope made a
public appearance two weeks ago at a ceremony led by Francis in
St. Peter's Basilica to appoint new cardinals.

On Wednesday Francis was named one of 278 candidates for
the next Nobel Peace Prize, along with such controversial
figures as Russian President Vladimir Putin.

The Director of the Nobel Institute in Oslo, Geir
Lundestad, said the list includes 47 organizations as well as
individuals, with a winner to be announced on October 10.

Other nominees include American whistleblower Edward
Snowden and Pakistani schoolgirl Malala Yousafzai, who was shot
in the head by Taliban militants opposed to education for
females.

Putin was reportedly nominated for his role in the Syrian
crisis, but it is widely expected that the Nobel prize committee
will also be closely watching his involvement in the Ukraine
where the presence of Russian troops is raising fears of war.

Lundestad said this year has seen a record number of
nominees, whose names can be put forward by any elected
politician from a national assembly, former laureates,
international lawmakers and university professors.

He added that the names of nominees are generally kept
secret but many nominators choose to make their choice public.

Pope Francis, previously named Time magazine's Person of
the Year for 2013, has become a media darling as many have
applauded his efforts to break from the style of past popes and
establish himself as a pontiff of the people, willing to speak
out on concrete issues of poverty, social justice, and human
rights.

The Nobel committee is expected to narrow the candidates
list to as few as 25 by the end of next month.

The Nobel Peace Prize has been awarded 94 times to 126
Nobel Laureates between 1901 and 2013, including 101 individuals
and 25 organizations.
Last year, the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical
Weapons was awarded the prize.

The pope called on the faithful to abandon their "lazy
addiction to evil" in an Ash Wednesday General Audience where
more than 30,000 people filled St. Peter's Square.
Explaining the purpose of Lent, the 40-day period that
began Wednesday, the pontiff commented on how it is "time to
change course", and get away from addiction that "anesthetizes
the heart" in times of tragedy, violence, poverty and
indifference.
"Don't take violence for granted, nor our homeless brothers
and sisters, nor refugees in search of dignity," said the pope,
adding that "love for God can make change for the better".

The pope offered up Lent as an opportunity to confront
negativity and indifference via a collective renewal in God and
community.
"Faith and open hearts to our brothers are essential during
the Lenten period," he said.
Pope Francis will be heading to a Lenten retreat by bus,
the Vatican said Wednesday.
On Sunday, the pope and cardinals from the Curia, the
Vatican bureaucracy, will carpool rather than arrive separately
in Ariccia, a suburban hilltop town 16 miles from Rome for five
days of spiritual exercises.

It is the first time a pope and his Curia are not spending
the Lenten retreat on Vatican grounds.

Instead they will reside at the Casa Divin Maestro to
partake in daily Mass and meditations.
In a conversation with Italian daily Corriere della Sera,
Francis commented that he decided to hold the retreat outside of
the Vatican because "in the past they listened to three sermons
daily and then some of them would go back to work".
Invitation to the retreat was extended to Vatican
department heads and their assistants. If they can not attend,
other clergy can participate upon request.
The pope's decision to travel by bus recalled when, just
after being named pope, he waved off the 'solemn' pontifical car
and insisted on going back to the cardinals' residence in a
minibus with his former colleagues who had just elected him.

His repeated shunning of perks and pomp have earned him
plaudits for attempting to follow the example set by the saint
he took his name from.
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